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Glite Dictionary
smear word

smear word

7.9
A word used to hurt someone's reputation unfairly
  • noun
  • /smɪr wɜrd/
  • Offensive
translation icon : insulto
  • Using a smear word like 'traitor' can do lasting harm to someone's public image.

Examples

  • She lost many friends after a smear word was spread about her honesty.

  • The politician accused his opponent of intentionally spreading a smear word to destroy his credibility.

  • She refused to respond to the smear words thrown at her during the heated debate.

  • The article contained a smear word that tarnished her image.

  • Using a smear word can be damaging to anyone's reputation.

  • During the campaign, the journalist published a smear word aimed at discrediting the candidate.

  • The use of a smear word like 'liar' can significantly impact public perception of an individual.

Synonyms

name
vssmear word
  • Offensive
∞ 7.9

A word used to hurt or insult someone

is usually a single short label aimed at damaging reputation
slur
vssmear word
  • Offensive
54 7.4

An insulting remark that harms someone's reputation

is focused on harming reputation rather than only attacking dignity
aspersion
vssmear word
11 9.8

A remark that says bad things about someone to hurt their reputation

is more often a short insulting label used unfairly

Antonyms

endorsement
161 3.6

A public statement supporting a person, product, or idea

How Damaging

smear word
  • Offensive
7.9
insult
  • Offensive
313 1.3

Surface Forms

smear word singular
smear words plural

Morphology

smear + word

The meaning is directly compositional: 'smear' (to damage someone's reputation) + 'word' (a lexical item) yields a word used to smear someone. This production follows a common noun-compounding pattern and is immediately inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent lemmas.

Etymology

The phrase smear word comes from the idea of smear meaning to spread dirt or paint on someone to make them look dirty. So a smear word is like putting dirt on a person's name and is used 'to damage someone's reputation'.